45+ Patreon Statistics & Facts + Infographic

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Patreon was one of the earliest solutions for creators to build a paying and loyal fan base. Even though OnlyFans is all the rave today, Patreon has some exciting numbers showing it remains a force to be reckoned with.

But you do not have to take our word for it.

These Patreon statistics, facts, and trends broken down into categories show you everything you need to know about where the platform is and where it is going.

Top 6 Patreon Statistics (Editor’s Pick)

  • 80% of 13,000 surveyed Patreon creators in 2022 worked alone.
  • In 2022, 19% of visual artists on Patreon grew their first audience on Twitter.
  • “True Crime Obsessed” was the leading Patreon creator, with 45,800+ subscribers, as of July 2021.
  • 13,000 surveyed Patreon creators in 2022 made 41% of their income from the platform.
  • In 2021, Patreon raised $155 million in Series F funding.
  • In 2022, 38% of Patreon creators preferred to create video content.

Infographic

top 6 patreon statistics
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General Patreon Statistics

1. Patreon was founded in 2013 by Sam Yam and Jack Conte, a musician.

Jack doodled the initial idea for Patreon, and Sam fleshed it out in under six weeks.

2. 70% of Patreon creators in 2022 offered subscribers the ability to support their work.

In contrast, another 69% of creators gave subscribers exclusive content to justify their subscriptions.

3. 1 in 3 podcasters on Patreon used a custom name for their communities.

This was more than any other creator type on the platform in 2022.

Furthermore, creators retained patrons 4-8% better when they used custom community names.

4. 7.3% of Patreon creators in 2022 promoted their communities daily on other social media.

A more significant (17.6%) portion promoted their subscription option several times a week, while even more (18.1%) only promoted their Patreon once every week.

5. 90% of Patreon creators in 2022 aspired to grow their audience in the next few years.

1 in 4 (25%) of these creators wanted to work more with other creators, and 18% looked forward to hiring support staff to improve their business.

6. 18% of Patreon creators in 2022 were open to trying new platforms in the next couple of years.

Another 18% just wanted to experiment with a new medium in the future, while 6% would instead experiment with new monetization channels.

Patreon Creator Statistics

7. 6% of creators in 2021 used Patreon the most to showcase their creative work.

This was according to a survey of 1,600+ creators in over ten countries.

The platform was behind YouTube, favored by 33.6% of creators, Instagram (20.3%), and Facebook (10%), which made up the top three.

8. Patreon had its highest number of creators (192,000+) in June 2020.

As of March 2021, the service had 187.7 thousand creators

However, this was still a massive surge compared to the 26,703 creators on the platform in March 2016.

9. 11% of Patreon creators in 2022 believed they were seasoned creators already.

In contrast, 5% were starting, and 44% were either midway from starting or becoming seasoned creators.

10. 80% of 13,000 surveyed Patreon creators in 2022 worked alone.

11% had a team they worked with, while another 8% were solo workers supported by a non-creative team.

surveyed patreon creators
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11. 39% of podcast Patreon creators worked in a team in 2022.

Thus, making the segment with the highest number of team collaborations.

Furthermore, 94% of visual artists creating on Patreon worked in a team of one.

12. 50% of Patreon video content creators in 2022 first found their audience on YouTube.

Likewise, 3 in 10 audio creators also nurtured their initial audience base on YouTube.

13. Most (18%) gaming/game mod creators on Patreon found their first audience on Twitter.

In second place was Discord, where 17% of these creators in 2022 reportedly grew their initial audience base.

14. Podcasting Patreon creators in 2022 were most likely to have developed their audience base from Facebook.

17% of podcasters on Patreon were in this category, followed by 16% who used podcast networks to build their audiences. In joint-second was Twitter, also with 16%.

15. In 2022, 19% of visual artists on Patreon grew their first audience on Twitter.

However, that was second to DeviantArt, given its popularity among 21% of these creators.

16. Writers on Patreon in 2022 were the likeliest to have found their initial fans via their websites.

This was true for 14% of surveyed writing creators. Looking elsewhere, 19% found fans on Facebook, and 17% did on Discord.

17. 57% of Patreon creators in 2022 gave subscribers early access to content.

While 69% offered exclusive content not shown anywhere else, another 39% let users access their complete post archive via Patreon.

18. 30% of Patreon creators used the platform to interact with subscribers and patrons.

According to the 2022 survey, another 37% of creators guaranteed patron shoutouts or listed patron names in their credits.

19. 3.6% of Patreon creators have never promoted their Patreon accounts as of 2022.

The data also revealed that 5.4% of all creators promoted their subscriptions less than once in 6 months. A 3.3% group fared better, promoting their Patreon once every 4-6 months.

20. In 2022, 14.7% of Patreon creators promoted their Patreon once monthly.

21.3% could be found promoting their Patreon up to thrice monthly.

21. 12% of Patreon creators in 2022 wanted to be able to sell tickets to live events via the platform.

In contrast, 2% of creators were against the idea, while the majority (57%) did not care if the feature shipped. The rest (30%) claimed it would be a nice-to-have feature.

22. In 2022, more Patreon creators voted to have extra patron data.

43% of surveyed creators wanted data on new patrons, 41% wanted to get notifications on their patrons, and 32% would like data on patrons who canceled their subscriptions.

patreon creators for extra patron data
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23. “True Crime Obsessed” was the leading Patreon creator, with 45,800+ subscribers, as of July 2021.

This creator beat second-placed “Chapo Trap House” by more than 9,000 fans, while DarkCookie came third with slightly over 31,400 fans in the same period.

Patreon Subscriber Statistics

24. Over 8 million users donated to their favorite creators on Patreon in 2022.

Another 19% of surveyed fans used Patreon in the past to donate to over five creators on the platform.

25. 43% of Patreon users in 2022 used the platform to access exclusive creator content.

In contrast, another 40% joined the platform to enjoy community participation.

26. Another 43% of Patreon users in 2022 subscribed so that creators could stay motivated to create content.

That was in line with almost half (47%) of surveyed Patreon users who wanted to show appreciation for the creator.

Furthermore, 41% of users preferred how the platform allowed indirect contact with the creator.

27. 48% of non-Patreon users in 2022 cited a lack of disposable income as holding them back.

While another 20% did not see the extra benefits of using the platform.

28. 22% of surveyed non-Patreon users in 2022 were unaware of the platform’s existence.

Moreover, 16% were aware but feared forgetting to cancel their subscription after setting it up.

29. In 2022, 18% of UK, US, Canadian, and Australian Patreon non-subscribers believed creators they followed did not need their support.

In contrast, 47% of fans planned on using Patreon in the future.

30. 5% of Patreon creators in 2022 guaranteed their subscribers VIP access to in-person events.

While 9% of creators offered subscribers one-on-one coaching, and patrons got one-on-one contact (such as video chats) with 11% of the creators.

Patreon Revenue and Financials Statistics

31. Patreon got the most ($155 million) funding among creator economy startups as of Q1 2021.

In second place was Cameo, with $100 million in funding in the period

Rounding up the top three was Substack, which managed $65 million in funding.

32. 13,000 surveyed Patreon creators in 2022 made 41% of their income from the platform.

11% supplemented the income from their fans with jobs related to their creative setups.

A breakdown of how else Patreon creators made money in 2022 is presented in the table below.

Income Source Share of Income
Patreon 41%
Creative path-related jobs 11%
Commissions 8%
Other subscription platforms 7%
Ad revenue 7%
Coaching/teaching 5%
Book sales 4%
Merchandise sales 3%
Digital download sales 3%
Tours and live shows 2%
Brand sponsorships 2%

33. 61% of Patreon creators believed a feature for one-time tips would be essential for the platform.

About half of those respondents (35%) in 2022 thought such a feature would be nice-to-have, while 1% were against it. Another 3% did not care.

34. Crypto payments idea was kicked against by 43% of Patreon creators in 2022.

Another 30% did not care whether the platform implemented them, further driving negative sentiment. Only 9% believed crypto payments were crucial for the service, and twice that (18%) thought it was a nice-to-have feature.

35. Patreon creators earned over $100 million monthly in 2021.

The company had 200,000+ creators earning this amount across over 7 million patrons globally.

36. In 2021, Patreon raised $155 million in Series F funding.

This drove the company into a $4 billion valuation, more than 3x as high as its valuation six months before the fundraising exercise.

37. As of 2023, Patreon creators had earned over $3.5 billion on the platform.

Patreon grew to over 8 million active monthly patrons supporting over 250,000 creators.

patreon creators earnings
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Patreon Web Traffic Statistics

38. 28.66% of Patreon’s traffic in February 2023 came from the United States.

To come second, the United Kingdom accounted for 5.65% of the traffic

Rounding up the top three was Germany, responsible for 4.17% of Patreon website visits in the month.

The top five countries driving traffic to Patreon in February 2023 are:

Country Traffic Share
US 28.66%
UK 5.65%
Germany 4.17%
Canada 3.65%
Australia 2.94%

39. 18–24-year-olds visited Patreon more than any other age group in February 2023.

This age group accounted for 32.35% of traffic to the platform, closely marked by 32.02% of traffic from 25–34-year-olds in second place.

However, Patreon usage declined among older people, with 35-44 (16.52%), 45-54 (9.61%), 55-64 (5.84%), and 65+ (3.65%) year-olds accounting for a progressively smaller share of users.

40. About 3 in 4 Patreon visitors in early 2023 were male.

Data obtained in February 2023 showed a 75.46% male audience, while females accounted for the remaining 24.54% share.

41. In early 2023, Patreon got most of its traffic via direct sources.

Referrals generated 10.32% of traffic to the website as of February 2023, while organic search accounted for 9.67% of visitors.

42. Social media drove over 1 in 5 Patreon visitors to the website in 2023.

February 2023 data shows that social was responsible for 21.34% of the 89.6 million user visits recorded that month.

Paid search was the least responsible, sending just 0.01% of traffic to the website.

43. YouTube drove 62.38% of social media traffic to Patreon in February 2023.

Thus, taking the highest share of social media referrals to the creator-supporting platform.

A breakdown of how other social media platforms fared is tabled below.

Social Media % Share of Social Traffic
YouTube 62.38%
Twitter 19.82%
Pinterest 5.55%
Reddit 3.43%
Facebook 2.72%
Others 6.09%

Patreon Creator Content Preference Statistics

44. In 2022, 38% of Patreon creators preferred to create video content.

In second place were 17% of creators who chose writing as their expressive medium, while audio was the choice medium for 14% of Patreon creators.

Medium Prevalence (%)
Video 38%
Writing 17%
Audio 14%
Visual arts 11%
Game 6%
Photography 6%
Other 8%

45. Image creators were the likeliest Patreon creators (16%) to support crypto payments as of 2022.

They were followed by 14% of game creators/game mods who believed the payment option was crucial, and video and ASMR creators tied for third (with 10%).

46. In 2022, Visual arts creators were the likeliest Patron creators (68%) to kick against crypto payment.

Crypto payments were also unpopular among writing creators (50%), and in third place were game/game mods (46%), discouraging Patreon from adding such a feature. Interestingly, game mods were also some of the top three proponents for crypto adoption.

Easily Patreonize Your Favorite Creators

Like one of Patreon’s co-founders (Jack Conte), you can now earn more as a content creator or ensure your favorite creators do not get paid pennies by the platforms they are on.

With a Patreon subscription, users can access exclusive content, meet their creators one-on-one and in-person, and access releases before it goes live anywhere else.

But Patreon is not alone in the creator economy. So, check our OnlyFans Statistics and Trends guide if you are still searching for the best platform.

References:
  1. https://assets.ctfassets.net/0o6s67aqvwnu/1yFZHUl7iuCc5mjkCxxqGi/f4339b0326abba7b11295f753947ea18/CreatorEconomy2022.pdf
  2. https://influencermarketinghub.com/ebooks/Creator_Economy_-_Creator%20Earnings_Benchmark_2021.pdf
  3. https://c5.patreon.com/external/blog/data_insights_series_1_reduced.pdf
  4. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1243568/patreon-number-of-creators/
  5. https://blog.patreon.com/the-first-ever-patreon-creator-census
  6. https://blog.patreon.com/the-second-renaissance-is-here
  7. https://www.patreon.com/about
  8. https://www.similarweb.com/website/patreon.com/#overview
  9. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1254241/top-global-creators-on-patreon-by-number-of-fans/